Jeff Mitchell: Are we in a ‘suicide by cop’ epidemic?

Those who have read recent columns know that I am – like so many of you – deeply troubled by the four officer-involved shootings we’ve experienced this year.

Shootings Nos. 1 and 4 are the ones I am thinking about today.

The first one was in March outside of a fast-food restaurant when a man leveled an air pistol at Salinas Police officers. The second one, of course, happened last Thursday out by the airport when a parolee got into a shooting stance and leveled what turned out to be a cell phone at officers.

Both men were shot dead by Salinas police.

The two officer-involved shootings in the middle are also deeply troubling and we don’t know yet if they are justifiable homicides or out-of-policy murders.

And being it just July, I am worried that we are going to experience the proverbial “long, hot summer” here in Salinas. I say that because I am worried about what we’re going to do with out-of-work parolees or those suffering mental health or drug addiction issues that may be are intentionally seeking out confrontations with police to end their suffering ... their hopelessness.

And, mind you, how can one not feel completely horrible for the officers involved? What a terrible feeling it must be to feel like your life is being threatened by someone who likely doesn’t seem right to you – who may be acting bizarrely or threatening to endanger others.

I can imagine that officers might even experience feelings of helplessness as they are backed into a corner and forced to fire to protect themselves or others.

All of this, of course, raises the question again of what is being done to rehabilitate parolees and what is being done to help the growing ranks of the mentally ill out there. It also raises the question of what kind of relationship Salinas Police has with it citizens and what can be done to improve that relationship.

For instance, I’d like to know how can Salinas PD better work with each member of the community so that there is no cultural or communicative ambiguities about what to do when an officer confronts and or seeks to detain you. What should you do or do not do in those situations. That might seem obvious to some of us but I’m not so sure it is to others.

And how can all of our residents begin to trust our police officers? Certainly a City Council public review of the police department’s use-of-force guidelines would be in order and a help. And certainly the police department needs to immediately figure out how to deploy more “less-than-lethal” devices at the scenes of such confrontations.

God knows that violence in Salinas is not a new phenomenon. The place is firmly etched on the national map for per capita violence. It’s obviously not something that anyone is proud about.

I feel badly for the SPD. Just try to imagine what you’d do if someone pointed what appears to you to be a gun or knife. Imagine what you’d do in those few brief seconds. Imagine how you’d feel if the person you just shot turned out to be a crazy dude just holding an air pistol or a cell phone.

Imagine how you might feel if you were backed into the unenviable position of being the instrument of someone’s death wish. It would, of course, be horrible.

But again, we’ve reached a moment in time here in this city where just sitting back and letting someone else deal with it isn’t going to cut it. We all need to get involved.

How?

Well a good first step would be to make sure you’re registered to vote. Then when the chance comes be sure to vote yes on the city’s sales tax measure this fall.

But though we must get our police department more money, we must also be willing to step forward and personally be part of the conversation that ultimately speaks to and directs the kind of law enforcement agency we want and need in this town.

We can’t do anything to bring these dead folk back. We can’t lessen the psychic scars that are now etched permanently into the minds of the cops who shot them.

The gritty truth of all it all is that regardless of whether these folks were violent criminals or just nuts, they were also fellow human beings. That fact should never be lost on us.

We need to make sure that when we turn the page on this chapter of our city’s history that we have learned something about ourselves and our community. To fail to do that – to just go back to some ‘business as usual mode’ – would be a whole other tragedy into itself.

City leaders to attend Racial Justice Leadership conference

City Manager Ray Corpuz Jr., Police Chief Kelly McMillin and Public Works Director Gary Petersen all will be in Oakland today to attend a conference put on by the Racial Justice Leadership Institute.

Kudos to these officials.

The institute, working with Building Healthy Communities and The California Endowment, offers interactive training for those who wish to sharpen their skills and strategies to address structural racism and advance racial equity.

Later Tuesday, the Salinas delegation is scheduled to have a dinner meeting with the Endowment’s Lauren Padilla-Valverde, the woman who manages the endowment’s programming in the Salinas Valley area.

According to Petersen, the policy-level event will focus on how to challenge and change institutional racial inequities, specifically racial justice values and vision, different dimensions of racism and structural racism, identifying and establishing racially equitable policies and practices and taking advantage of opportunities to advance racial justice.

It’s my hope that one of these guys will brief the Salinas City Council during an upcoming meeting on what they learn at this event.

I have a feeling what they talk about and what they learn may be pretty interesting.

Jeff Mitchell covers Salinas Valley politics and government. Under the Dome, a reported opinion column, appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in print and online. Email him at jemitchell@thecalifornian.com. For quick political hits, check out Under the Dome–The Blog, available most every day at: www.theCalifornian.com